


The Path to Enlightenment

by ziraseal



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Did I mention Love?, F/F, Love, slowburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 03:44:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8430526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziraseal/pseuds/ziraseal
Summary: Being a grown-up Airbender is hard, but having someone you love help you out is... it's the best feeling in the world.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Marezelle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marezelle/gifts).



**_ _ **

 

**_Fall, 171 AG:_ **

 

                The Air Temples are filled with an otherworldly substance— something that no human has ever imagined to be possible. Nonbenders who became Airbenders. Impossible. Obscure. Exciting. She eagerly bounces on the balls of her feet as she gets ready to teach her first real class. Tenzin is busy relaying letters to Lin and Suyin Beifong about the Krew’s wellbeing— and of the “Red Lotus” crisis that Korra was fighting against. The girl knew that such matters were being kept from her because of her age, which was stupid; she’d fought Equalists off of Air Temple Island and had used her spirituality to help Korra in stopping a one-hundred-foot-tall dark spirit from destroying the world. She was mature enough to know what the... _Flameo_... was going on here!

                Someone standing next to her cleared his throat.

                “Hmm... oh, hey there Kai,” she said, her cheeks going slightly pink.

                The former pickpocket put on his goofiest face, “Are you ready to teach your first class? Do you need someone to be your assistant?”

                It was tempting to give into his wants, but Jinora knew that she couldn’t mess this up— no, the lesson had to go perfectly. She shook her head and Kai pouted, walking back to the groggy group of Airbenders assembling for the session. Though her father had attempted a military-like strategy towards teaching the new recruits, Jinora decided to go for a more relaxed approach, believing that people learned better when there was a _desire_ present. And even though these people had chosen to come along after being captured by the Dai Li, there was still an air of reluctance about being here. About being an Airbender in general.

                Jinora wanted to help them change themselves, not boss them around like her father had tried. The newfound Air Nation needed to build itself off of a foundation of peace, rather than fight-or-flight as it had been since the Hundred Year War.

                People began sitting down cross-legged like she was, copying her posture. Good, she thought, for if everyone started the lesson as equals, perhaps they might all learn at a relatively equal pace. Jinora’s back was straightened, her breath flowing in and out at a low, but steady and calming pace.

                “I’d like to teach you all how to meditate properly— it shouldn’t be thought as something boring, but rather a tool to reflect on everything that has happened to you, what is happening to you right now, and what you think might happen in the future. It is a tool to achieve not a sense of inner peace, but the actual peace itself,” she smiled at the small crowd, each of them listening more intently than they had to her father.

                Perhaps it was because they’d seen her rescue the bison and fight off the poachers that they now regarded her with a sense of spontaneous respect.

                “Instead of clearing your mind instantly, I want us to take this nice and slow. Let us start with what weather calms us down the most,” Jinora continued. “For me... it is those days when the sky is clear but it is still cold outside... the sun has never been brighter, yet you are still wrapped in a warm robe and trudging through the snow... I want you to think of the season that brings you peace...”

                Jinora, ignoring her own advice, opened her eyes and scanned the room— men and women of all ages calmly resting on the grassy lawn outside the Northern Air Temple. There was not sun outside, but rather a thick fog had blanketed over the mountain range; meaning that Jinora could hardly see the _sikhara’s_ at the tops of the temples. Rather than interrupting this tranquil weather with some powerful airbending (something she was sure the group could do if they worked together), Jinora let the fog slither through the mountain passes like a lazy snake thawing after winter’s hibernation.

                One person’s eyes remained open, she noticed, with a slight sense of distraction hiding behind them. Jinora sought out their owner and found herself staring at a girl only a few years older than her sitting near the edge of the class, as though she did not yet feel comfortable with mingling.

                “Remember to keep your eyes closed,” Jinora gently reminded her audience, as though she were not singling out this lone girl. “Meditation is a cognitive experience. When you are ready, I want you to slow your breathing down as best you can. Take long breaths, not deep ones. Keep focused on the weather that makes you calm— be it rain pattering outside your window or the feel of warm sand under your feet as you visit the beach. Nature is its own gift to the world.”

                The girl made frightened eye contact with Jinora for all of a second, and then shut her eyes and sat upright. Jinora felt a little bad.

                The mediation session began to pass by, and she noticed that people weren’t falling asleep or struggling to concentrate. Expressions ranged from blank to serene, but at least her pupils were relaxed. Even the kids kept their eyes closed as she slowly guided them through mental images that would pacify them.

                Jinora almost felt sad that it was over. Almost.

                “Alright, Kai, will you lead them to the dining mandapa?” she asked her friend gently.

                Kai nodded excitedly, bounding through the corridors with the new Airbenders in tentative tow. Jinora stayed behind and noticed that the girl who’d been struggling to meditate was observing the fog passing through the mountains.

                “Quite the view,” the teacher noted, nodding at the lemurs lazily gliding through the cold air.

                Startled at the sudden conversation, the girl jumped a little. Perhaps she was paranoid of something?

                “Oh. Yes. It is.”

                “My name is J—”

                “Master Jinora. Yes, the others spoke about you,” the girl murmured nervously.

                She wasn’t sure how to respond, but she leaned forwards in an encouraging but open manner. The girls did not make eye contact for a few minutes, as it seemed the newcomer was either shy or uninterested in human contact.

                “What’s your name?” Jinora asked harmlessly.

                “Oh... I’m Opal. Opal Beifong.”

                The younger girl’s eyes lit up, “No way! Oh my— you’re a Beifong!? How have we not met before, our grandparents were best friends!”

                Out of the corner of her eye, Opal glanced at Jinora, “Really?”

                “My grandmother is Katara! **_THE_** Katara! And your grandmother is Toph Beifong! **_THE_** Toph Beifong!” Jinora said in awe. 

                “But... that means your grandfather was Avatar Aang?”

                “Oh, well, sure, him too! And great-uncle Sokka! They were all best friends!”

                Opal nodded, “I’ve heard the stories. It’s hard not to. Anyways, I’m hungry, and I think I’m going to head inside. I’ll see you later, Master Jinora.”

                “Oh, it’s just Jinora right now! I’m not a Master yet! A-And even if I was, you could still call me Jinora!” she called out, as the Beifong began to walk away from the courtyard.

                Opal glanced behind and gave the younger girl a small, shy smile before disappearing into the mandapa. Jinora was left to stand there with her mouth open in wonder at how she’d never met this person before— when they had so much in common. She secretly resolved to get to know Opal Beifong better, and headed off to the Bison stables to help her Uncle Bumi with his morning chores.

               

**_ _ **

 

**_Summer, 181 AG – (10 Years Later):_ **

 

                Jinora slowly moved through the set; it mattered not that she’d mastered all the moves a decade before, she still knew that patience _perfected_ practice (her father was a fan of alliteration). And so her feet bare on the stone that she might feel every change in the air around her from toe to eyebrow, she slowly twisted her wrist just so and let a swirling spear of air burst through the tips of her fingers into the sky. Like a kite dragon, it twirled around and around through the clouds until the atmospheric pressure forced it to dissipate. She’d always loved the ephemerality of Airbending— how the force of a breath of air was destroyed as quickly as it’d been created.

                Yet there was so much power to it.

                “How are your sets coming along?” a familiar voice asked.

                Opal wandered up to the lawn with her hands stuffed her pockets. Ikki had advocated to sew pockets into the robes after people’s notes on meditation techniques kept getting scattered in the wind, or when wooden beaded bracelets broke off and the precious pieces that a child had spent weeks carving were lost underneath rugs and doorways. Jinora, now in charge of the Eastern Air Temple, had agreed with a smile that pockets weren’t necessarily an earthly attachment, and that a change in uniform could take place.

                “I think that I took more of a hit during the battle against Kuvira than I let on... all those years ago,” Jinora frowned. “My leg keeps spasming every now and then and it’s getting rather painful.”

                “Perhaps you just need a good massage?”

                “Oh... well... maybe,” she agreed reluctantly.

                Opal took her by the hand, which in turn took Jinora by surprise. Though they were friends, she’d never really gotten close to the Beifong as she’d promised herself— one or the other always too busy to find the time. But now Opal was visiting the Eastern Air Temple to get away from Republic City (and from a certain Lavabender), and had made the move to begin a closer friendship with Jinora.

                She nearly squealed when Opal propped the sore leg in question into her lap and began pressing her fingers into muscle. Nearly being that she had a bit more self-control than that. Had to, as an Airbender.

                “Oh my... that feels amazing!” Jinora moaned, throwing her head back and nearly crying in relief as Opal worked on a knot in her calf.

                “When you were... blasted with the Spirit Cannon, you took a hard shock of energy. I wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of your body has this much tension,” Opal pondered. “With enough work, you could start feeling a lot more freedom in your movement.”

                “How have I never noticed it? I just thought... I don’t know... as though I wasn’t getting enough nutrition or something...”

                Opal laughed and ruffled Jinora’s hair, and for a moment it felt like time had skipped a beat, like one of Ryu’s gramophone records (they made sure to document what music Tenzin had been taught by his father so that future generations could know what the Nomads sang and danced to). As soon as Opal’s warm slender fingers had left Jinora’s hair, she instantly wished that the contact had lasted for minutes rather than such brief seconds.

                “You know, if you want, I can help you begin to disassemble some of this tension— I’m sure practicing would begin to hurt a lot less if we did that. I remember falling to the concrete during the battle and not being able to walk for two weeks. And then a few years ago I realized that I was Airbending with a broken rib that one of the White Lotus Waterbenders had missed when healing me after the battle. Sometimes you walk around with pain that you cannot feel.”

                Jinora shrugged, “I’m sure it’s not as serious as a broken rib—”

                And then she realized that she would be missing out on how wonderful Opal’s fingers had felt digging into the sore tissue... perhaps one or two sessions wouldn’t hurt?

                “— but maybe we’ll try it out tomorrow, okay?”

                At this, Opal smiled and patted Jinora’s shoulder before wandering towards the orchards to help pick razzberries.

                Later that night, Jinora nervously knocked on the guest room where the Beifong was staying, holding a package of _wagashi_ that Asami had sent her, having picked up Fire Nation confectionary cooking as a hobby after Korra had convinced her to work fewer hours at Future Industries. The soft bean candies were a favorite throughout the Air Temple, and it was a wonder that Jinora had managed to find a box that hadn’t been opened— then again, it was marked **FOR: Jinora** on the front in that wonderful scrawling handwriting that belonged to Korra Sato.

                “Come in— oh! I didn’t realize that we had candy at the Temple! You have to leave the island and buy it downtown back in Republic City. Your father is adamant that we don’t spoil ourselves.”

                “Well, everyone works so hard here,” Jinora blushed. “I figured that it was wrong to turn away a gift from Asami that would only serve to bring smiles to people’s faces. And there’s enough to go around— that’s what’s important.”

                Opal took a piece of pink wagashi and popped it into her mouth, closing her eyes and chewing. Jinora would have felt awkward about standing in the doorway with a box of bean candy, how embarrassing if someone were to see her like this after light’s out! But Jinora found that... she didn’t care, too mesmerized by the smile donning the older woman’s face to even think about how she appeared.

                “That. Was. Amazing,” Opal giddily said. “Oh, but come on in! I hope you don’t mind, I’ve lit some incense in here.”

                Jinora’s focus shifted to the small shrine built in the back of the guest room, dedicated to the spirits. Every room had one, and while it was not a requirement to burn incense at all, there was still an ancient superstition in the Earth Kingdom that smoke not already pledged to a deity might attract hungry dark spirits. At the very least, it was a convenient and attractive place to keep the sandalwood burning.               

                “I don’t mind at all. The cinnamon is a nice touch,” Jinora commented.

                “Oh... these aren’t scented. The smoke helps me feel more in touch with the spirits,” Opal chuckled, “Since we can’t all astral project across continents.”

                Embarrassed, Jinora turned to hide her red face and studied the _liding_ filled with drinking water, that guest might not have to leave their rooms in the middle of the night. Where had that smell of cinnamon come from?! Oh, she should’ve just kept her mouth shut.

                “Alright, if you want to lay down on the seat I’ve made here... I can start working on your leg,” Opal advised.

                Jinora gave herself over to vulnerability, and for the first time in ten years, as Opal began to press her fingers into the twenty-one-year-old’s skin, she realized just how fortified she truly was. This was so... intimate. And yet it felt almost normal. Almost. Jinora felt her eyes close and she began to think of the foggy day when she’d met Opal...

                Opal...

                Opal...

                Green eyes and black hair... dark skin and a high pitched, yet perfect voice...

                Jinora could feel something stirring in the lower half of her stomach, a feeling that she hadn’t really spent much time reflecting on. A light humming, like charcoals in a slowly dying fire; how they make cities of twinkling starlight as you huddle closer to what once was flame. She could feel her breathing speed up and pressed more into the cushion to suffocate this sudden, overwhelming sensation of... of... pleasure. Opal’s fingers pressed into the back of her thigh, starting to move in circles, and her whole body locked up from the contact.

                “Oh, spirits, I-I gotta go!” Jinora yelped.

                Opal backed up a step, “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

                Jinora recognized this feeling, but it was something only boys had ever given her— her brief relationship with Kai as a teenager, and some of the cute farm boys that lived in the local village where they would fetch supplies that they couldn’t fabricate themselves. A feeling where one’s heart just beats far too fast, where you might never catch up with the silly little organ. A feeling where you cannot see straight because your eyes are trying to focus on too many details— like how her eyes are the same color as the sky in the Spirit World, or how her hair is darker than ebony. Feelings reserved for boys. But never Opal. No, no, no!

                “No, I just remembered that I promised to read Ikki a bedtime story, and she’ll be mad at me if I forget! See you tomorrow!”

                Jinora practically leapt out of the bench where Opal had been massaging her. She needed to think. She needed to meditate. She needed to not be in the same room as Opal _freaking_ Beifong. Not when her body was feeling this way. As she scampered out of the room, she regretted overhearing Opal’s confusion;

                “But... Ikki’s eighteen years old...”

               

**_ _ **

****

**_Fall, 181 AG:_ **

 

                She’d managed to ignore how her body had reacted that night for months before it happened again. Opal sat down next to her during meditation and smiled. After their first (and last) massage session, Jinora had been cornered by the Beifong the next day and asked why she’d lied to the older girl. To which she lied again; explaining that she was really ticklish and was embarrassed by it. Opal laughed and laughed all day, forgiving Jinora— and subsequently leading them back to their comfortable, platonic relationship.

                And now, a few months later, Opal reached over while Jinora was meditating and began tickling her with a small clump of Sky Bison hair. Jinora’s eyes instantly snapped open as she was wrenched from the tranquility of mediation.

                Oh no, she actually _was_ ticklish.

                “Opal! No! Stooooooppp!” she giggled, closing her eyes and trying to sit still.

                She failed miserably. She Sky Bison hair bothered her neck so much that she had to roll around in the grass to escape it. Opal abandoned the piece of fur to begin tickling Jinora’s stomach, causing the younger woman to break out into melodic laughter— a sound she’d not made since childhood. And then it hit her, as her belly began to hurt from laughing too hard, that she’d been robbed of this unadulterated joy from... well... age eleven, when she’d stepped away from being a child and had been anointed as responsible for an entire nation of people. Yes, she played games with the other members of her temple, but this sort of unbridled happiness had been absent.

                Eventually, Opal gave up and fell down into the grass next to her. Jinora’s cheek pressed into the lawn, she stared at the green-eyed girl for a while— no, they stared at each other. And then Opal sat up, brushed the extra strands of Sky Bison hair off of her robe, and went back to being an adult without even speaking of the fun they’d just shared. It felt unreal. Jinora laid there in the grass, almost tempted to take a nap, before a novice Airbender came to her with a question about Airbending forms and she was quickly forced to resume the role of Master once again.

                But why did she have to... to disassociate herself from that love of jocularity? Was cheerfulness really such an earthly tether? Was it... was it worth it to—

                No. She was a Master. She had to stick to tradition and follow the path to enlightenment.

                For the rest of the day, she worked, taking up her responsibilities and shooing away those who asked to do the chores for her. She needed a distraction— yet the mundaneness of the tasks allowed room for pondering within her span of focus. Her mind meandered towards Opal Beifong, and how unbridled her joy had been in that brief collection of seconds. How did she not feel this way about any of her other friends?

                She needed to talk to someone.

                And so after dinner, when she’d made her rounds through the hallways and seen to everyone’s needs— including Opal’s— Jinora sat down on the foot of her bed, pressed her fists together, and meditated into the Spirit World.

                “Ah, there you are! I was wondering if you would like some tea, my dearest,” a familiar voice said.

                Jinora opened her eyes and smiled up at Uncle Iroh, accepting a cup of Spirit tea and taking a sip. Even if you meditated in, Iroh’s brew was strong enough to be tasted, and when you left the Spirit World, you could still feel the warm liquid sloshing around inside you. Jinora had a funny feeling that Iroh was one of the most powerful Spirits in this plane, even if he chose to be humble about it.           

                Across the table was none other than her Aunt Kya, who merely wiggled her eyebrows and ate a biscuit that another Spirit had been eyeing hungrily.

                “How’s the temple? Has Ikki finally driven you nuts?”

                “After eighteen years? You think I would break now?” Jinora retorted in mock hurt. And then she sobered up with a smile, “It’s everything I imagined growing up. Well... no... I didn’t imagine that I’d have so many students— I was preparing to only be teaching Meelo for the rest of my life, until one of us had kids. But dozens of new Airbenders every year? That I wasn’t expecting.”

                “Ah, the great responsibility of passing on the Airbender bloodline. I wanted to help, but... well... I wasn’t meant for that,” Kya smiled from behind her cup of tea. “So what brings you here? A need to escape?”

                “From what?”

                Behind Kya’s icy blue eyes was a knowing stare, and she took another sip before answering, “Perhaps not a what but a who?”

                “I’m not going to answer that,” Jinora countered.

                “Very well,” Uncle Iroh mused, pouring for a _Lhasa Apso_ Spirit. And then quietly he added, “Perhaps it is not us you are withholding information from, but yourself.”

                “What was that?”

                “Oh, nothing,” the former Fire Nation General smiled.

                “Has anyone in the temple caught your fancy?”

                Jinora traced the _leiwen_ pattern on her cup and glanced at the giant lilypad trees towering over the rolling hills in the distance, recalling her first time here. She shook her head.

                “None of the men have caught my eye, no.”

                Kya had a mysterious glint in her gaze as she bit into a sweet roll, “And anyone else?”

                But who else could there possibly be? Jinora was well aware of Kya’s attraction towards the same sex, and of Korra and Asami’s powerful love for each other— why she’d been to their wedding for Laghima’s sake. But she was not... _that way_. She couldn’t be; there was far too much responsibility to deviate from her destiny of multiplying the population of her peoples. They simply couldn’t afford not to...

                “Ah... so there is someone,” Iroh gently prodded.

                Jinora shrugged, feeling the exhaustion of the day’s work creeping up on her. She gave them a wave of goodbye and merely murmured “perhaps” before she left the Spirit World.          

               

**_ _ **

 

**_Winter, 181 AG:_ **

 

                Jinora wrapped the robe around her shoulders and wished that she had waited to shave her head until spring. She just... she really loved the freedom that came with not having hair to block one’s senses. But the winter storms that swept through the mountain range were powerful— and she did not think to mend her hat last week when she had some spare time. Her hair had just started to grow back, but a centimeter really wasn’t enough to keep her from shivering.

                But someone had to be on watch, for there had been reports of bandits spotted in the foothills— scraggily predators left to pick up the pieces of the Earth Empire after King Wu took the throne. Jinora would let no harm come to this temple, not after the destruction of the Northern sanctuary a little over ten years ago. Goodness knows Avatar Korra was working her ass off to squelch this problem— having brought along the former Great Uniter herself to deal with the mess. If anyone could strategize, it was that woman.

                Speaking of which.

                Wrists bound with Future Industries patented Anti-Bending Technology, Kuvira walked out onto the grassy lawn and set a tray of tea down on the ledge next to Jinora.

                “I thought you might like something to warm you up,” the prisoner offered, her face and voice void of emotion.

                “Thank you. You didn’t have to.”

                The Great Uniter’s eyes betrayed her ostensible lack of emotion; unsure and flighty— as though at any minute Jinora might burst into flames and begin yelling at her for the horrors she’d committed as a military dictator. Kuvira stepped away slightly, unsure if she ought to bow in Jinora’s presence or not.

                The Airbending Master waved a hand towards the stone edge that she was sitting on, “I noted that you put two cups on the tray. Are you wishing to join me?”

                “Um... well... sure,” Kuvira said, beginning to drop the walls that she’d spent the last ten years building. “Are you okay with me? I mean, sharing tea with me?”

                “Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life’s true delights,” Jinora smiled.

                The Great Uniter slowly made her way onto the stone and picked up a cup, allowing Jinora to slowly pour steaming hot Jasmine tea into the vessel. As she did this, she studied Kuvira. Seven years in prison had not done her many favors, and at thirty-four years of age the prisoner already had wrinkles on her face and gray streaks in her hair. Broken down, like a Satomobile that’d crashed into a ditch.

                “It is kind of the Air Nation to let Avatar Korra and I stay here,” Kuvira murmured. “Most places would not take me in if I were to try. Although, I am glad that seven years has done little to forget me— I would hate it to be forgiven so easily.”

                “Really? I’ve already done so.”

                Kuvira nearly dropped her cup, staring into brown eyes with her bewildered evergreen ones, “B-but I tried to kill your people!”

                “How could I call myself a leader if at my core I did not accept a singly apology? If I looked into the eyes of every crow that stole part of my dinner and condemned him to eternal suffering?”

                “I caused so much suffering onto others.”

                “You set out trying to help your people and lost yourself in the process. If you were truly a being of irreversible destruction, Korra would not have sparred you.”

                “She didn’t spare me because she thought I was or could be a good person. She spared me because she’s a good person.”

                Jinora smiled, observing a pack of Sky Bison flying out to a mountain top to graze for a few moments before turning back to the prisoner, “Korra has a great affection for you— she sees your potential to fix the messes you caused. Else we would not be sitting here enjoying tea. I think you ought to give yourself a little forgiveness in light of the effort you are making. The only use dwelling on the past can serve is to ensure it does not happen again.”

                Kuvira took a sip of tea and did not say a word.

                “What are you doing out here?” someone called out, walking up to the two of them. “Shouldn’t you be packing to leave?”

                “They are allowed to stay here as long as they need to, Opal,” Jinora calmly explained. “It is with their help that we might prevent attacks on the Air Temple.”

                “It’s her fault those attacks are occurring in the first place,” Opal snarled.

                “Opal, do not let your anger overcome the compassion I know you are capable of—”

                Kuvira stood up and set the tea cup down, “It’s alright. I want to hear what she has to say. No doubt she has a decade’s worth of anger she needs to relay upon me.”

                For a moment, it appeared as though Opal was at a loss for words, merely squaring herself against the Great Uniter. And then she slapped her, a loud **_SMACK!_** resonating through the courtyard. Kuvira did not hold back the tears of pain, raising her hand to her cheek and refusing to look her assailant in the eyes. Jinora jumped to her feet and nearly shrieked in shock;

                “OPAL BEIFONG! THIS IS NOT OUR WAY!”

                But she ignored Jinora, grabbing Kuvira by the collar of her ratty jacket and pulling her close.

                “You ruined _everything_. Our family was so happy without you! And now what? Baatar Jr. has to see a therapist every week and Mom has trust issues with her own guard! I have nightmares of that... that... terrible thing you sent to destroy Republic City almost every night! For seven years! Why couldn’t you just know your place?”

                Jinora sent a kick of air towards Opal, enough to push her away but not enough to knock her down or hurt her. She stepped in between the Beifong and Kuvira, holding onto the prisoner’s hand in case she needed to duck her away from another strike.

                “That is enough! You are a Master for goodness sake, this is beneath you! I want you to go see Ikki for some meditation, Opal. I will find you later— this is unacceptable behavior in our teachings!”

                Absolutely fuming, Opal stomped away, and Jinora could feel the wind around her whispering and rustling a little too much for her liking. An angry Bender was dangerous, but a furious Airbender on a mountain? Someone could get seriously hurt. Opal stopped at the main doors to look at them one last time, and Jinora realized with a heartbreaking glimpse that Opal was crying. And then she disappeared into the mandapa.

                “Forgive her,” Jinora murmured, “It would seem she has been... harboring some resentments.”

                Kuvira’s cheek was slightly red where she’d been slapped, but other than that she seemed physically okay. Her hunter green eyes betrayed her, unfortunately. Kuvira ran her hands through scraggily, ruined hair.

                “I deserve it. I deserve whatever the universe shall throw at me.”             

                “No. You deserve a chance to redeem your wrongs— not to have your sister abuse you for your mistakes.”

                “You weren’t listening,” Kuvira muttered bitterly, “I’m not her family. I never was.”

                “Perhaps not. But I have hope that she can forgive you.”

                A shout of greeting caused them to glance away from each other; Korra standing in the middle of the courtyard with two backpacks full of supplies. Kuvira dejectedly wandered towards the Avatar, who took a moment to inspect the bruise forming on the prisoner’s cheek. But Kuvira merely grabbed her pack and began wandering towards the road that led down the mountain. The Great Uniter paused at the entrance and gave Jinora a small nod.

                Korra wandered over, “Is she going to be alright? She told me that Opal did a number on her face.”

                “I hope so. I’m going to have a long talk with Opal— that sort of violence is... simply out of character for her... I just... I...”

                Jinora realized that she was breathing extremely hard, the shock that Opal would lash out like this... she couldn’t possibly have imagined it. Korra pulled her into a hug, cupping the back of her head and causing Jinora to nestle her face into a warm snowfox pelt.

                “It’s going to be okay. You’ll figure this one out,” the Avatar reassured her, “You always do.”

 

**_ _ **

 

**_Spring, 182 AG:_ **

 

                “Calamity within oneself is often caused by neglect of inner turmoil—”

                “Until it builds up to a breaking point, yes you’ve spoken of this already,” Opal sighed in defeat. “I don’t think these sessions are doing anything. I don’t... I don’t feel any better about my altercation with Kuvira.”

                Jinora awakened from her meditation pose and studied the frustration on Opal’s face— from what she could tell with their biweekly one-on-one lessons, Opal had a long way to go before she could forgive Kuvira for what she’d done. They sat across from one another, cross-legged as Jinora attempted to break down the structure of Opal’s anger; going backwards from the attack on Republic City to the three years of uniting the Empire to when Kuvira left. Somewhere along the line, Opal had lost her patience with the session, and Jinora wanted to figure out where.

                “Opal, you broke the trust of our people by committing an unprovoked act of violence... these sessions are necessary to build up the confidence that you understand our ways.”

                The other woman didn’t say anything for a few moments, but her expression softened, and then she leaned forwards enough to put her hand on Jinora’s for a brief moment. Her skin was warm, like she’d spent the day in the sun— though they’d realized a few months ago that the only time they had to do these sessions was long after the sun had gone down. And though Jinora often woke up feeling as though she had not received enough sleep, she was sure that these meditations were helping Opal. Apparently not.

                “I’m very grateful for this... don’t get me wrong. I stepped out of line with Kuvira, and I know that what I did was cruel and out of place. I just... I needed to...”

                “You needed to express your anger,” Jinora finished. “But you went about it the wrong way.”

                Opal nodded with a sad expression, “Yes. Words can’t express my regret.”

                “Perhaps we ought to take a break from temples for a while?” Jinora wondered aloud thoughtfully, “Wander around the Earth Kingdom and spend some time out in nature? It might do you good to have some fresh air?”

                “It isn’t as though there’s a lack of air here.”

                “Oh, you know what I mean,” Jinora rolled her eyes.

                “Well, I’m not saying no. I couldn’t think of a better person to go on a vacation with,” Opal smiled and squeezed Jinora’s hand, causing the latter’s heart to flutter.

                Over the next week they packed and prepared for the journey— Jinora being sure to doll responsibility between Ikki and Meelo, that the temple might not spontaneously combust while they were gone. Even her old boyfriend, Kai, was more than happy to teach classes for old time’s sake, pulling her close and whispering that she’d found a good one. Whatever that meant, she wasn’t sure. Jinora’s glider suit over the years had been fiddled with by Asami so that she could wear a robe over it like her father had— Opal merely threw a red cloak (a gift from Suyin) over her shoulders to keep warm on those windy spring days. They decided to take Skipper, a Sky Bison who was in his teenage years and therefore smaller than the colossal adults but not nearly as tiny as the babies. They set off on Skipper when the afternoon was sunny, in the hopes that they would avoid bad weather.

                “Where are we going?” Opal asked.

                “I had an idea that we might go to Gaoling first, perhaps we might meet up with the acolyte outpost there for a place to stay the night?”

                “You do realize that I have a house in Gaoling?”

                “Really?”

                “Well, it’s not MINE per se, but Grandma Toph bequeathed it to my mother after she passed away. We can stay there if you want, instead.”

                It’d been a somber day when the temple had heard the news— of course the whole world had been shaken to its core at the passing of Toph Beifong. Jinora frequently wrote to her Grandma Katara after she’d learned, knowing that her own grandmother was in her twilight years, and wishing more than anything to remind Katara just how much she loved her. Her grandmother wrote back not to worry, that when the time came she would be more than ready to be reunited with her loved ones, and to give her brother a walloping on the head for old time’s sake. There was some comfort in those words, but it did not quite fill the hole that Toph Beifong’s death had left behind.

                “That sounds like a plan,” Jinora smiled.

                She caught a glimpse of Opal out of the corner of her eye as she steered Skipper through the clouds. The older woman had a slight frown donning her face, and it appeared as though she was contemplating the subjects of their meditations; Kuvira. And then Opal opened her mouth to explain.

                “I want to see what they’ve been doing. What she’s been doing with Korra. I think... if I saw the progress, I might be able to work out my anger.”

                “Well... um... what a coincidence,” Jinora blushed.

                “What?”

                “Kuvira and Korra’s base is established at the Beifong Manner under Suyin’s permission.”

                The Matriarch had been stubborn about letting Kuvira fix her mistakes, but gave in eventually; surely Kuvira wouldn’t dare try to cross Korra without her bending and in the weakened state that prison had left her.

                “What makes you think I can see her again? I... I hurt her... I hurt myself by striking out like that.”

                “We all must face our fears at one point or another.”

                “You think I _fear_ her?” Opal asked in a timid, whispering voice.

                Jinora nodded. She put a hand on Opal’s shoulder and squeezed, trying not to think of how strong Opal’s muscles were. The Beifong leaned into her touch a little, and then a little more, and a little more— until they were hugging on a Sky Bison. Jinora wrapped her arms around Opal’s middle and let out a sigh. It’d been... so long since she’d hugged someone.

                “I’m so sorry,” Opal whimpered, nestling into Jinora’s scarf. “I didn’t mean to hit her, but I saw red and I just... I couldn’t think of anything but how she hurt my family. How she hurt you.”

                “No one got hurt. That’s what’s important, isn’t it?”

                “But what if they had? What if Kuvira had killed one of your siblings, or one of mine? Could you forgive her?”

                The answer was _no_.

                Jinora tightened her grip, “I’m not here to play the ‘what if’ game. The hypothetical past shall only ever remain so.”

                “How are you so wise?”

                “I’m not. In all honesty, I have so much to learn.”

                Opal pulled out of the hug and ruffled Jinora’s hair, scooting over to give the younger girl room to pilot the Sky Bison. Jinora’s cheeks felt warm from blushing, and she tugged on her sleeves to distract her from the rushed heartbeat in her chest. By now, she understood these feelings, what they truly meant. She understood that her adoration for Opal transgressed the platonic. She liked her, but it was so much more than that.

                More than once when they were meditating, Jinora would open her eyes to stare at Opal’s form— her muscled arms and torso, the way her hair playfully bounced behind her ears, and the many lines to trace over with her eyes. How organic Opal’s body seemed, from the way she moved during Airbending to the stillness she had perfected from years of practice for meditation. Her body could gracefully change between these activities the way the earth changed through the seasons— so gradual and yet quick as a flash.

                Jinora ought not to think of another Airbending Master’s body in this way, but somewhere along the line she realized that there was no stopping this curiosity.

                 She really liked her, didn’t she? Oh goodness, she had _feelings_ for... this was all so...

                “Are you alright?” Opal piped up.

                “I should ask the same of you... I mean, I did just tell you who we’re going to meet up with...”

                Opal stiffened slightly, “I’ll make my peace with it in a little while.”

                “I should have told you sooner, I’m sorry.”

                “You are forgiven.”

                Was the foundation of their relationship solely based on forgiveness, then? Jinora glanced at Opal and managed to awkwardly pat her on the back before turning her attention back to Skipper, unsure of what to do next.

                “I was wondering...”

                “Yes?”

                Opal brushed the hair out of her eyes and... was she blushing?

                “I have a little money saved up, and I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner at a restaurant tonight? No doubt the manor is not stocked with food; no one’s lived there for months.”

                “Oh... you don’t have to, I mean, I can use some of our travel money for—”

                “My treat,” Opal insisted.

                If possible, Jinora blushed even harder, forcing her to hide her face under her scarf as they flew through the sky.

 

**_ _ **

 

**_Spring, 182 AG:_ **

 

                Kuvira and Opal skittered around each other during their stay at the manor, never once being alone together in the same room. Someone was always present to moderate conversations, be it Korra or Jinora. It was probably for the best, for Opal’s brow furrowed far too much for Jinora’s liking whenever she looked upon the source of her family’s turmoil. Kuvira, on the other hand, looked like a Fox-Antelope in a Satomobile’s headlights whenever Opal appeared. The former Great Uniter completely lacked the dignity that she’d used to conquer the Earth Kingdom as soon as the Beifong stared her down, and she was quick to excuse herself from the room.

                Fortunately, Korra and Kuvira would be gone for days on end as they tried to fix the state of things in the countryside surrounding Gaoling. Opal and Jinora stayed in the city longer than they had planned, and Jinora found it terribly relaxing to take a breather from the everyday routine of running an Air Temple.

                She was lying on a couch in the living room with her entire body sprawled along the length of the sofa, taking a nap when she felt her legs lift up for a few seconds. And then Opal sat down and let Jinora’s legs rest on top of her lap. Huh. How... normal it seemed for them to be in physical contact with each other. Jinora cracked her eyes open and smiled at Opal, who refused to glance away from her novel but was smirking in response.

                Jinora was tempted to play with fire.

                She gently picked up one of Opal’s hands and fiddled with her dark fingers. Opal didn’t stop reading. Jinora’s sense of playfulness muted as she traced the different nicks and scars across Opal’s hands, many from the pet cat that she used to have in Zaofu, and some from the various fights against bandits in the Earth Kingdom.

                “You have beautiful hands, you know.”

                Opal chuckled a little in amusement. “They’re just hands,” she yawned, “my goodness, I’m tired. I think this house heats up rather quickly, and I find myself so drowsy whenever we’re in here.”

                “We can share the couch if you want, I was taking a nap before you barged in,” Jinora teased.

                The older woman glanced at her book for all of a second before tossing it onto the coffee table (an act that made Jinora wince a little, for she truly loved books too much to be so careless with them), and then she laid down on the couch. Thank the Spirits that the couch was big enough for five people, but Opal still cuddled close to Jinora and ruffled her hair before closing her eyes and beginning to fall asleep.

                Jinora kept herself awake for a while longer, only to be mesmerized by a relaxed, sleepy Opal. Oh, and then she did something so terribly foolish.

                She leaned up just enough and kissed Opal’s forehead, the latter smiling a little in her drowsiness.

                “You’re making such wonderful progress. I’m proud of you,” Jinora whispered.

                Opal responded by throwing an arm around Jinora’s waist and pulling the two of them closer. Jinora allowed her eyes to droop shut and found herself enjoying the best nap she’d had in ages. When she woke, she tensed up; Opal’s hand was splayed across her stomach, underneath the cloth and on her skin, and Spirits it was as if all of her senses had become heightened. Jinora glanced down at the slender fingers and thought for a moment about moving them, but then fortune struck as Opal turned in her sleep and moved her entire body. Jinora missed the contact, but was grateful she wouldn’t have to weasel her way out of an awkward situation. The other woman’s forehead was nestled into her shoulder, and Jinora merely had to turn her head a little to smell Opal’s hair— something rich and floral, and for a moment Jinora rested her nose on Opal’s bangs. And then she skittishly moved her head away. No, this sort of lusting would not do; it went against their teachings as Airbending Masters.

                And so Jinora carefully slid out from underneath Opal, wandering out towards the courtyard of the Beifong Manor. It was just as well; Opal was likely uninterested, and saw their interactions as nothing noteworthy— other than being best friends, of course. Still... a stinging sensation overcame her eyes and Jinora wiped a tear away, looking at it for a moment before drying her finger on her robes. This wouldn’t do.

                The two of them stayed in Gaoling for another week, as did Korra and Kuvira. Jinora had her mind set on a fieldtrip, however, and she would see to it before they left. She had to, if there was ever any hope of prompting Opal to forgive the former Great Uniter.

                “Where are we going?”

                “There’s a repurposed education camp here, from the Earth Empire days. I think you should see what Kuvira and Korra have done with it,” Jinora explained.

                No more lies. They did no one any good.

                Opal pursed her lips but nodded, “Fine.”

                “We won’t have to stay there long,” Jinora murmured nervously, fiddling with her hands, “I just figured that it could be easier for you to forgive if you understood and—”

                “Jinora, it’s alright. I’m not going to do anything rash. I’ve learned my lesson.”

                The younger woman bit her lip for a second, her brown eyes scanning the horizon as Skipper flew towards the field where the camp had been built, almost ten years ago. She took a deep breath and then let out a “ _yip yip_!”, signifying to the Sky Bison that they needed to lower towards the ground. Jinora was a little hungry, so she fetched a bit of _mantou_ from her bag and split it in half.

                “Would you like some?”

                “Sure,” Opal said. “Thank you.”

                “Of course.”

                There were smiles hidden behind those pieces of bread, between both women. Within a matter of seconds, they were both giggling— though neither was sure why. And then Skipper landed in the field, forcing them to break from their jocularity.

                “We’ve arrived,” Jinora smiled.

                “What... what is this place?”

                The camp had been turned into a park, huge camphor trees towering over them as they walked down a stone path towards where Kuvira and Korra were carefully Earthbending a stone _paifang_ for people to walk under. Spirits skittered here and there, and a few wandered up and sniffed Jinora’s robes— instantly recognizing her as friendly. Human citizens could be seen filling shrines to the Spirits with offerings (that were of course instantly gobbled up by the spectral dragonfly-bunnies). Children played on the stone statues depicting the Kyoshi Warriors, some of the little girls pretending to be Suki and some pretending to be Azula.

                “Public spaces, to create a sense of community,” Jinora quietly explained to a stunned Opal. “It was Kuvira’s idea to unite people based on humanity as our common root, rather than ethnicity. And even then, she’s certainly gained a deeper appreciation for the Spirits than she had as a military governor. This intermingling between mortal and immortal is sure to create a strengthened bond for years to come.”

                “It is... impressive,” Opal murmured. “But... I... well...”

                “I’m not asking you to forgive her just because you’ve seen some trees and statues,” Jinora said. “But I am showing you the effort she is making to better herself through patience and kindness.”

                “You’re right... I know you’re right... it’s just hard... she doesn’t look like the same person who threw my family into platinum shells and... did all those horrible things to the Earth Kingdom... to me.”

                Jinora looked at Opal in concern. She knew that the latter had nightmares from facing the Colossus in Republic City, but this was the first she’d heard of Kuvira directly hurting Opal. What had she done?

                She wasn’t to have any answers at this moment, it seemed. Opal began walking towards Kuvira and Korra, who were still Earthbending stone paifang along the walkways, after the beautiful arches were established, the two older women would then carefully carve in mesmerizing _taotie_ and _leiwen_ patterns, reflecting the art history of the Earth Kingdom. Opal tugged on the ratty sleeve of Kuvira’s jacket, forcing her to stop carving and face Opal.

                “I don’t... I can’t forgive you yet... but I wanted you to know that I’m sorry for hitting you. It was so wrong of me and... and I’m not just apologizing to clear my conscience— I want you to know that I have no excuse for that action. I have explanations, of course, but no excuse. And... I’m glad to see the work you’re doing for the Earth States in person.”

                “You’re forgiven,” Kuvira whispered. “And thank you.”

                Opal turned away, and Jinora could see tears in her eyes. She quickly guided Opal away from Kuvira and waved goodbye to Korra, knowing that they would likely not see each other for a while.

                “Baby steps,” Jinora reassured.

                Opal blinked back more tears as she climbed onto Skipper, a few of the children disappointed that they had to stop petting the Sky Bison.

                “Yeah,” she said. “Baby steps.”

 

**_ _ **

 

**_Summer, 182 AG:_ **

 

                They were to head back to the temple tonight after two months of traveling, but Jinora was worried about the storm. She could see it and feel it from a few miles away, and a part of her instinctively wished to turn back— to not have a repeat of Grandpa Aang’s disaster. Opal didn’t have a particular care whether they braved the rain or not, carving a wooden pendant up in the comfortable seating area of Skipper’s saddle.

                And then she saw the flash, and heard the terrible clap of thunder rumbling across the sky.

                “We need to find somewhere safe to land for the night.”

                “If you think it’s best,” Opal called back.

                Just as the rain began hitting them in huge, harsh, and cold drops, Jinora managed to spot a cave down in the mountains. She prayed to the Spirits that it was not the home of a predator, and steered Skipper down towards its mouth. Her eyesight was blurred by the rain until she remembered that she was a freaking Airbender! Jinora bent a bubble to keep them from being pelted by the icy water as Skipper glided downwards. Opal stuffed the carving into her pocket and aided Jinora. Though distracted by the need to escape the storm, Jinora felt excited to be bending alongside Opal.

                Opal was laughing like a maniac when they finally reached the cave, dancing around in the rain as Jinora pushed Skipper inside. Jinora turned around to see Opal whooping and skipping, shaking her head and kneeling down to light a fire with a few matches (and a little Airbending).

                “What has you going mad, then?”

                “Oh, I love rain!” Opal cheered. “We never have any at the Temple and it was always the best thing to listen to back in Zaofu, when they would close the domes and you would listen to the thundering of water over your head for a whole night. And the feel of it! Come out here, Jinora!”

                “I want to stay warm!”

                “It’s not like you can’t instantly dry yourself off afterwards! Come on!”

                Jinora gave in, laughing at the new memory being formed in her head of a soaked Opal, her hair plastered down her neck and her robes clinging to her frame (giving little to the imagination). Opal tugged on her arms until she would willingly walk out into the freezing rain. Jinora nearly let out a scream at the feel of it all, and even though it was summer she couldn’t help but worry that the monsoon season had come early. They would need to prepare back at the temple, for though they weren’t in danger of the heavy rains up in the mountains, many villages all over the Earth Kingdom would need help rebuilding— and in the worst cases people might need to be rescued.

                But now was the time for the wilderness to take over; for dancing in the rain they were not two Airbending Masters, but a twenty-one-year-old girl and a twenty-six-year-old woman acting positively bonkers for their age. Opal spun Jinora around in circles and they laughed like hyena-cats in the rain. The water managed to obscure Jinora’s vision for a good long while until she managed to wipe her eyes on her sleeve.

                And then she noticed it.

                “Opal, are you crying?”

                The other woman slowed her dancing down, and the distress became more and more apparent as she transitioned from the laughter to the tears. Jinora quickly tugged her into the cave and used Airbending to dry the both of them off.

                “Opal! Opal, what’s wrong? What happened?!”

                But Opal didn’t answer, leaning forwards and pushing her forehead into Jinora’s shoulder. The younger woman had to sink them down to the ground to avoid toppling over from a sudden lack of balance. Opal cried and cried, audibly, and it was a sound that broke Jinora’s heart over and over as the minutes passed. Yet she would not reveal the source of her distress, leaving Jinora to sit in silence and rub Opal’s back and shoulders in worry. Thank goodness the fire had begun to warm the cave up ever so slightly, and in the flickering light Jinora could just barely see the olive green that she loved about Opal’s eyes, now flooded with tears.

                A monsoon within, a monsoon surrounding.

                “She was the first person... I ever... we used to dance out in Mom’s garden when it was raining— we would get so muddy and she would just use her Earthbending to clean us up before Mom spotted us. I loved her, Jinora. I used Bolin to distract myself, I made everyone think he was the first person that I liked but... I loved her...”

                “Who?” Jinora asked, though she knew the answer.

                Opal’s lip was trembling, and she stared at the fire before whispering a name almost hidden by the sound of the rain outside;

                “Kuvira. Spirits, I loved her so much when I was younger. I thought maybe she... she might like me back... but then she ran off with Junior and left me _alone_. I wanted us to be together, when I was a kid I wanted to marry her. It’s stupid, I know.”

                The slap made so much more sense now? How hadn’t she seen it before?

                “That’s why you couldn’t forgive her?” Jinora asked.

                “I know what she did out in the Earth Kingdom was wrong, but I was angry at her because it felt as though she didn’t even care about what we had as kids. And how she fired that canon at me... like I was nothing... I blamed myself for the longest time. I thought I was the reason she’d left Zaofu.”

                “How could you have been?” Jinora sternly countered, “Kuvira celebrated when you joined the Air Nation, she was so proud of you.”

                “You weren’t there. When Korra and Aunt Lin came to take me to the Temple... Kuvira and I fought nearly every night about whether or not I should go. She was angry at me when I left, but was too distracted by the Red Lotus to... we didn’t speak for nearly two years...”

                Jinora wasn’t even distracted by the fact that Opal had once loved a woman. It was that she should have seen this... everything pointed towards it. The hostility between Opal and Kuvira during the battle of Zaofu... of course... it all made sense.

                “I’m sorry. But she’s not going to hurt you anymore. I promise,” Jinora whispered, hugging Opal close.

                “How can you promise something like that?”

                “I won’t let her. And neither will Korra, nor Asami, nor your Mother, nor anyone else.”

                Opal cried for the rest of the night in Jinora’s arms, and the latter’s heart broke with every tear shed. The rain continued on like a singing wind chime, whispering soothing tales to send the both of them to sleep.

                 
**__**

**_Fall, 182 AG:_ **

               

                Opal and Jinora weren’t fans or Airball, leaving that for the younger kids and teenagers to enjoy. They did love meditating together, but even that grew old sometimes outside of the mandatory daily sessions. But they did enjoy hiking together, across the local mountain range. Often their goals took up a whole day, and Jinora had to prep all of her responsibilities early and leave instructions with Ikki (who merely rolled her eyes and insisted that she had everything covered) just so that they could climb to the nearest summit and admire the view. The view that never got old.

                “Thank goodness you had the idea to bring along a few canteens of water. Remember our first attempt?”

                “We were sick for days,” Jinora recalled. “Ikki made me promise never to go _ANYWHERE_ without water now. I have to carry water with me to meditation!”

                Though she was in shape, it was still difficult to hike up the side of a mountain, but there was one perk— Airbenders were never short of breath. It was why they could live at such high altitudes and feel nothing. Acolytes, on the other hand, almost never left the temples. They’d finally adjusted to the height, and it wouldn’t be worth it to put themselves in such jeopardy when a teenage Airbender could be asked to glide down to the local village instead.

                “Never again,” Opal laughed.

                The Beifong’s hair was now long enough to be pulled into a bun, and Jinora couldn’t resist stealing a few glances at the strands that’d fallen out, combined with the sweat from hiking and her shoulder muscles straining under the weight of the backpack... Jinora felt just a tad out of breath for the first time in her life. Opal’s beautiful olive eyes caught hers and the Beifong began smiling mischievously as she asked;

                “What is it?”

                Jinora shook her head back into focus, “Oh. Nothing.”

                “You were staring at me,” Opal teased.

                “No. I wasn’t.”

                “Yes you were.”

                “I wasn’t! I lost focus and my mind was wandering... and I just happened to be looking in your direction!”

                Opal’s whole mouth smiled wildly, showing teeth and all as she giggled at Jinora’s attempt to hide her fixation. Time had passed and Jinora was sure that Opal knew of her crush, but hadn’t said anything. It was even more infuriating now to know that Opal had once loved a girl, that she could love a girl in the future. But love took time, and it was just a crush. Right?

                But the object of her affections merely turned towards the mountain range and let out a _“WHOOP!”_ to celebrate their achievement of climbing to the peak, the noise startled every living thing for miles as it bounced off the crags and cliffs. Jinora could swear that she’d never heard anything as beautiful as Opal Beifong’s voice being echoed by nature itself. And she finally gave in;

                “Do you like anyone?”

                “Hmm? You mean in a romantic way? Oh sure! I’ve had my eye on someone for a while now!”

                “Oh,” Jinora said, a little disappointed at the forwardness of Opal’s words, “Is he at this temple? Is he an Airbender?”

                “Yes and yes.”

                “Oh.”

                At this, Opal began laughing so hard that she fell on the ground and rolled around a little in the grass. Jinora grew annoyed; what boy was so _special_ that he could get Opal to laugh like this? What man was worthy of hearing this noise? This—

                Jinora was suddenly tugged down into the grass. She let out a yelp that was silenced by another pair of lips on hers. And then she realized. Oh goodness, she realized. She realized with a smile and she held onto Opal’s muscular arms as the two women kissed in the grass. Jinora kissed back with a ferocity that she didn’t think she had in her; screw being a Master for just one minute in her life because Opal Beifong’s mouth made her feel complete!

                A hand came up to cup her cheek and she whimpered a little because Kai’s kisses had never felt like this— when he finally grew stubble he refused to shave it off, even though he could never grow a real beard. As a consequence, the last memory of a kiss that Jinora had to compare _this_ to was sloppy and painful and uncomfortable and _oh Spirits_ this was everything she’d ever lusted after. Opal’s other hand snaked around to hold her close, and Jinora responded by cupping Opal’s face in her hands and kissing the daylights out of her.

                It worked.

                And when tongues became involved, every memory of a kiss was gone and replaced by the warm taste that Opal left behind, carefully switching between the pressure of a kiss and the intense feel of someone else in your mouth. Jinora thanked the Spirits that they were both laying down in the grass, for her feet would’ve given way had they been standing. No, that was too simple of a description— Jinora would have fainted and remained unconscious for a few days, so powerful was this kiss. She even fluttered her eyes open at one point just to see what Opal looked like, and though they were really too close for Jinora’s eyes to properly register what they were staring at, Jinora swore it was an amazing sight to see.

                When they broke apart, the both of them let out breaths that they’d been holding in for far too long. Days and weeks of this tension. Months, even.

                “So about that boy that you like...” Jinora started jokingly.

                Opal began laughing hysterically and melodically again, and as the noise echoed off of the mountains and valleys, Jinora decided that no music could ever compare. Sound was ruined now, on account of Opal Beifong.

 

**_ _ **

 

**_Fall, 182 AG:_ **

 

                It’d only been a few weeks since **_The Kiss_** , but Jinora and Opal were more than comfortable with sneaking around as they made time out of the day to hide in some forgotten corridor and kiss each other senseless. Jinora wasn’t sure she’d ever truly been in love before, but she was certainly getting there. Spirits, Opal’s lips felt perfect against hers, as though one mouth was a lock and the other was a key, an Jinora couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if they were to consummate their relationship further...

                Ought she take steps? Take Opal out for dinner? It wasn’t as though Air Nomads had money, and she didn’t dare delve into the mediocre treasury for such selfish efforts. Perhaps she could cook a dinner for Opal, but it would have to be after the kitchens had stopped cooking for the night, for it would be selfish, too, to deplete the community of resources just to make Opal a romantic meal.

                Fortunately, a savior came in the form of Asami Sato. The heiress of Future Industries had sent Jinora a letter of warning just a few days prior;

               

                _Dear Jinora,_

_Would it be alright if Korra and I came to stay at the temple for a few days? We’re taking Satori to Ba Sing Se to visit Uncle Bolin and his family— our little girl is going to be an Earthbender! We would only need a day to rest up, and I would love to take you out for dinner at the restaurant Korra and I discovered last time we were here, down in the fishing village to the south? Please let me know if you have room, it’s no problem if you don’t of course. We’d love to see you again,_

_\- Asami_

               

                 Jinora’s eyes widened as she read the letter again— she could take Opal on a double date! That was romantic, right? So long as everything went well... some of the romantic comedy novels that she’d read as a teenager, the ones that her father did not know about, some of them often depicted scenes where double dates went horribly. And she remembered Korra’s recollection of Bolin’s date with Eska, where she, Mako, and Desna were dragged along. Was having other people there less romantic? Oh, Sprits, what if Opal was unimpressed with her... what if she didn’t like it...

                “You’re muttering aloud to yourself,” the devil in question chuckled from the doorway. “What’s this about a date, then? I’m afraid I only really have my robes to wear.”

                “You’re not to know of this yet!” Jinora scolded. “I’ve yet to ask you!”

                “Oh, in that case my lips are sealed!”

                Opal pretended to zip her mouth shut and smirked at Jinora, who felt a little embarrassed that her girlfriend had caught her talking aloud to herself— a habit that she always tried to break, no matter how “cute” Opal found it. Her girlfriend closed the door quietly and crossed the threshold to carefully pull Jinora into a hug.

                “I’d love to go on a date with you.”

                Jinora fell rather quickly into the embrace so that most of her weight was leaning on Opal’s, and the older woman let out a musical laugh, picking Jinora up and carrying her to the bed. While Opal snuggled up against her, Jinora reached over to the pad of paper that she kept next to her bed and picked up the pen. Writing left-handed was difficult, seeing as her girlfriend was occupying the right side of her body, but she managed to write out a semi-neat response to Asami and wiggled her eyes at Opal.

                “You sure you don’t mind? A double date, I mean?”

                “Darling, those two are the cutest couple in the world!”

                “Cuter than us?” Jinora pouted.

                Opal pretended to think about it, and then shook her head so that her bangs covered her eyes a little, “No. We’re far too silly, and obviously the cutest.”

                Furry-Foot, the dragonfly-bunny Spirit that had remained friends with Jinora after all these years, flew into the window as if on cue. They chirped a little and fluttered their wings in excitement to see two humans lying in a bed together. What could that possibly mean?

                “Hello there, can you send this to Asami? I’d be terribly grateful,” Jinora smiled warmly.

                The Spirit bit down on the letter and faded away— the fastest mail service in the world. Jinora made a mental note to bake them a tray of sweets as a thank you for playing courier.

                “Where were we?” Opal asked, now that they were out of anyone’s sight but their own.

                “Hmmm... I can’t recall... you might need to jog my memo— mmph!”

                Jinora’s sentence was smothered by Opal kissing her, climbing onto her stomach and straddling her as she kissed the younger woman over and over. Oft their kisses had to be broken apart from giggling too hard, since they simply found one another too adorable to fathom, and this was hardly an exception. Opal’s sudden burst of kisses caused Jinora to nearly fall of the bed in laughter and they collapsed upon each other with tears in their eyes.

                “Why do we always end up like this?”

                “I’d rather go out laughing than anything else,” Opal mused. “I’d say it’s the greatest medicine, but you could cure all my ills just by being you.”

                “Oh?”

                “Indeed,” Opal whispered, kissing her soundly. “You make me feel complete, Jinora.”

                Opal had said the right thing, and they remained in the bed together for the rest of the night, swapping stories and kisses alike.

                When Korra and Asami arrived a few days later, Jinora was quick to practically glide past them and swoop up their toddler, Satori, in her arms. She pressed a dozen kisses to the giggling toddler’s face and completely forgot her dignity as a Master for a few moments. Never mind that Korra was the Avatar and deserved a proper greeting, this little Earthbender was absolutely adorable! Opal gave both women a hug as Jinora ruffled the small patch of black hair on Satori’s head.

                “Hi, Auntie Jinopal,” the little toddler murmured, sticking her fingers in her mouth after she finished her sentence.

                The Airbending Masters both sent a look towards the power couple of Korra and Asami for an explanation, the two of them embarrassedly looking anywhere but where eye contact might be made.

                “It’s just easier for her to remember one name rather than two,” Korra said shyly.

                “You’re unbelievable. The both of you.”

                Asami plucked Satori out of Jinora’s arms and pointed between both the Airbending Masters, “Look! That one’s Jinora. GIN-OAR-AH. And that one’s Opal. OH-PALLLLL.”

                Satori struggled for a few seconds, babbling a little bit before she said, “Jinopal!”

                “You see what I mean?” Korra asked, throwing her hands up in mock defeat, “Impossible!”

                Ikki rushed out of the temple squealing, stopping for a second to respectfully bow to Korra and Asami, and then capturing Korra in a bone crushing hug. The Avatar laughed and swung the eighteen-year-old around in a circle before setting her down so that she could fawn over the little Earthbending tyke as well.

                “Oh she’s so small, and look, she’s wearing tiny Water Tribe moccasins! This is everything I ever dreamed of, oh this is perfect! I’m going to get our camera out of the closet and take a photo so that we never forget this treasure of a child! Jinora! This is amazing!”

                “She has a name, you know,” Opal pointed out.

                “Shh! You’ll upset her!” Ikki blurted, bouncing a giggling Satori up and down, “Oh, I can’t wait to have children!”

                _That makes one of us_ , Jinora thought.

                “You sure you’re okay with babysitting her tonight? I mean, we can take her to the restaurant with us,” Asami smiled.

                “Nonsense!” Ikki nearly shrieked, “Tonight she is mine!”

                “What?”

                “Goodbye you frivolous adults and leave me to my new earthly attachment!” Ikki said in a silly manner, carrying a giggling Satori with her. “I’m going to teach her how to play Airball, have tea with Sky Bison, and meditate while dancing! We’re going to meditate while dancing, you hear me!”

                “Oh. Well. I guess that’s that,” Asami murmured. “I mean, I wish her the best of luck and all, but isn’t there someone a little less hyper to take care of her?”

                “I mean, Kai would’ve said yes, but he has to cover a class for me,” Jinora sheepishly answered.

                “She’ll be alright, love,” Korra said, taking Asami’s hand. “Shall we be off?”

                Opal blew on her Sky Bison whistle and Juicy flew down from the cave where he slept, letting out a loud bellow to say hello to the Sato’s. Korra grabbed Asami by the waist and shot them up together with a column of air, and at first Jinora wanted to do that, too, but then she realized that copying the other couple tonight might not look good to Opal. Instead, she held out her hand and used Juicy’s neck to awkwardly climb to the top, then pulling Opal up. Her girlfriend couldn’t help but laugh at the failed attempt and Jinora had to hide her face in embarrassment.

                “Such a gentleman,” Opal whispered, kissing Jinora on her temple before sitting down on Juicy’s neck.

                The three passengers in the back made small talk, with Asami occasionally darting her eyes between Opal and Jinora as if to ask ‘how long have you two been an item?’. Juicy made his way towards the fishing village where the restaurant was based, and all the while Jinora couldn’t help but observe the body language between the two wives; how relaxed Korra seemed leaning up against Asami like that, or how Asami would occasionally look at the Avatar with a stare that said ‘you’re the only thing I want to see tonight’. Jinora didn’t mind, of course. Though this was a dinner all together as friends, it was also a brief moment where Asami and Korra weren’t taking care of a small child and could devote some time to themselves.

                It made Jinora wonder.

                Wonder about having kids.

                Would she someday have them with Opal? Could she? It wasn’t as though she could adopt an Airbender child— they weren’t lined up on every corner of every street.  For the past twenty-two years (her birthday had been last week), it’d been silently pressured on her that she was to help repopulate the Air Nation. Of course, there were hundreds of Airbenders now, but that didn’t stop her from feeling as though she had to contribute. But did she really want to? It wasn’t as though she ever had fun taking care of Rohan when her mom was busy. Sure, cuddling them and playing with them was fun, until they began crying something awful— and then it was such a headache to listen to.

                Destiny versus desire.

                “Were you listening, Jinora?”

                “Hmm? Sorry, lost in thought.”

                “I figured as much,” Korra chuckled. “Don’t worry, Asami’s the same way— always off in Invention Land.”

                “Just you wait until you run an international industrial business with a dozen mass orders at once and the main line breaks down three times a day for an hour each malfunction,” her wife grumbled. “Just you wait.”

                “She’s stressed because she left Zhu Li in charge,” Korra winked at Jinora.

                Oh of course, Varrick Global had been shut down as a punishment for Varrick’s involvement in Kuvira’s army (though he’d help save the city, he was partially to blame for the technology coming this far), and Zhu Li had come to work for Asami as a means of keeping busy, not at all interested in shaving calluses while Varrick lived off of his fortune. Since she’d practically run Varrick Global, Asami trusted her enough to take care of the important business while she was gone. And trust me when I say that Asami Sato needed a freaking break.

                Opal landed Juicy near the edge of town and kindly asked a mortified rancher if her Sky Bison could share the pasture with his cattle. But he couldn’t really say no to an Airbending Master. Korra had a hand on Asami’s hip as they stared off into the distance across the river at the sun starting to set. Jinora stood there, admiring how adorable they looked, when she felt an arm snake around her own waist.

                “This is already looking to be a wonderful date,” Opal smiled, pressing a lingering kiss to Jinora’s cheek. “Look, they strung up lights for their harvest festival.”

                “Oh, how pretty! We ought to do something like that at the temple— it really does get dark in the winter, and torches are so... traditional.”

                “My goodness, Jinora, are you suggesting we become _radical_?!” Opal asked in mock surprise.

                Jinora pushed her good-naturedly, “Oh, shush.”

                They ended up having the most wonderful of double dates, complete with amazing _mapo doufu_ (the vegetarian alternative) and some _choujiu_ , though only a small sip for Opal and Jinora, as they weren’t really supposed to have any alcohol. And even though they were adults capable of making their own decisions, Korra promised not to tell their parents. Though frowned upon in their culture, Jinora and her father had decided not to strictly prohibit alcohol from the newcomers— many of whom had enjoyed a small amount of liquor with meals when they’d lived with their families. Including Opal, who looked a little sad that she couldn’t have a bit more _choujiu_ like she always had back in Zaofu.

                “Oh, just have some and get it over with,” Jinora chuckled. “The main idea is to not let yourself become intoxicated— you must be able to respond to situations with a level head. You’re balancing this with a meal, it’ll be alright.”

                “Yay!” Opal quietly cheered, reaching for the cup and taking another sip. “It’s not like we’re coming back for a while.”

                “Filthy sinners,” Korra teased.

 

**_ _ **

 

**_Winter, 182 AG:_ **

 

                Opal had been watching her from the balcony, leaning on her crossed arms with amusement as Jinora practiced a particularly hard spin and kick. She glanced up to see her girlfriend wave at her and nearly fell out of balance. No... no... she did. She fell onto her back, though the grass made for a more cushioned fall.

                And she could see Opal laughing from the balcony— until her girlfriend decided to jump off and use Airbending to glide down towards the lawn. She helped Jinora up with a warm smile.

                “Your aim has improved greatly.”

                “You little... twerp.”

                Opal kissed Jinora passionately on the lips for a few seconds before they heard Ikki screeching from across the courtyard to _“CUT THAT OUT!!”_ , forcing them to break apart and return to their duties. But Jinora felt herself too riled up from the feeling of Opal’s lips to be able to concentrate on Airbending.

                “Come on,” Opal whispered, a glint in her eye.

                “Where are we going?”

                “Anywhere.”

                “Wha—”

                The older woman tugged on her sleeve and pulled her along until they were at the closest bedroom, Opal’s, and she closed the door. For a moment, the two of them stared at each other with gaping mouths, and then Opal pressed up against Jinora, their mouths colliding. Jinora whimpered into the kiss and practically fainted, her heart racing like a river after snowmelt.

                And then Opal kissed her neck. That... that was more than they’d done so far, yet Jinora wanted it more than anything. Spirits, she wanted _Opal_ more than anything. So she took the leap blind and lightly pushed Opal away.

                “Oh... I’m so sorry, was that too much?” Opal asked in worry.

                Jinora shook her head and pulled her tunic over her head, letting the garment fall to the floor. Opal’s face lit up like the Northern and Southern Poles, and she pressed kiss after kiss to Jinora’s lips, disrobing the both of them in the process. Jinora had never felt so vulnerable and yet so safe at the same time, it thrilled her to her core.

                Afterwards, lying in bed naked together after such a powerful experience, with a blanket clumsily thrown over their bodies, Opal whispered nonsense against Jinora’s lips like it was holy scripture. Jinora felt out of breath and woozy, trying desperately to keep awake but failing. She fell asleep to Opal’s melodic laughter once more, her arms wrapped around a warm dark torso that she knew would keep any and all bad dreams at bay.

                “Goodnight my little lemur.”

                Jinora smiled against Opal’s shoulder, inelegantly kissing the soft, warm skin there, “Goodnight.”

                Waking up in the morning proved to be the greater challenge, more difficult than opening herself up to Opal like she had. Somehow she had to make her way across the dormitory to her own bedroom without anyone noticing that she’d spent the night in Opal’s room. This was going to be quite the trial, but Airbenders weren’t stealthy for nothing. Jinora quietly zigzagged down the hallway past Meelo, who was groggily headed for the bathroom, hiding out of Ryu’s sight as he stubbed his toe on the large ornamental vase next to his door, and quickly bribing little four-year-old Yangchen with a promise of candy if she didn’t tell anyone that she saw an Airbending Master sneaking around at dawn.

                 Unfortunately, Ikki was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed and her arms folded.

                “So? How did it go?”

                “Huh? How did what go? I don’t know what you’re ta—”

                “I saw you sneak off yesterday afternoon and you didn’t come to dinner last night. I’ll give you points for not making a lot of noise, but I can only assume you and Opal did one thing together.”

                “I honestly don’t want to think about _you_ thinking about this conversation,” Jinora sighed, her eyes closed and her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

                “Well I’ve put a lot of thought into it!!”

                “Oh no.”

                “Are you going to tell Mom and Dad? Is this a bad thing? Like, Dad never talked about what Airbenders think about it, but I’m okay with it even if our Nation isn’t because OH MY SPIRITS this is so amazing! Opal is like ten times better than Kai!”

                “I heard that!” Kai called from down the hallway. The walls were relatively thin, after all.

                “I haven’t really thought about it, telling Mom and Dad, I mean. I think he might be a little disappointed...”

                “Why?” Ikki asked, sobering up quickly.

                “Because... I don’t want to have kids.”

                “Oh. Well too bad! I mean, too bad for him! Not too bad for you!”

                “You think it’s... it’s not an immoral thing to want?” Jinora asked. This had been worrying her for so long, after all. She took a deep breath, “I mean, I feel obligated to help populate the Air Nation and— OW!”

                Ikki had rolled up the pad of paper that Jinora kept on her nightstand and smacked her on the head. This wasn’t unprovoked violence so much as sibling rivalry, it seemed, so Jinora couldn’t instantly chide her.

                “Where has your mind been?! Our culture’s core principal is _freedom_ — Dad’s not going to make you start popping out babies! And there’s so many of us now! Leave that gross stuff to the adults.”

                “I thought you said you _wanted_ kids!” Jinora defended.

                “Uh, yeah, when I’m Dad’s age, in like eighty years!”

                “Ikki!”

                “I think Korra and Asami were a bad influence on you, having Satori together at such a young age. You know that kind of peer pressure is unhealthy, honestly.”

                “Get out of my room, Ik.”

                Ikki leaned forards, hands on her hips, and whispered, “Do you love her?”

                “OUT!”

                But as Ikki scrambled out of Jinora’s bedroom, the question replayed itself in Jinora’s head over and over. She desperately hoped that the walls were not thin enough for Opal to have heard that, for she didn’t have an answer yet. 

 

**_ _ **

 

**_Summer, 183 AG:_ **

               

                When they finally said their “I love you”’s for the first time, Jinora was in a bad place. She’d just gotten the call from her father. _The_ call.

                “Hey,” Opal smiled, “How are you doing?”

                Jinora’s eyes were flooded with tears, spilling down her cheeks the way rain runs down a window pane. Opal pulled her into an empty room and asked what was wrong, but Jinora was in too much of a state of shock to answer— violently shacking and writhing her way out of Opal’s strong grip.

                “What is wrong?! What happened?!”

                Jinora sank to the floor, “Gran Gran died.”

                “Oh... oh Spirits, I’m so sorry, Jinora!”

                Opal rushed her into a fierce hug, cupping the back of her head closely. Taking shaky breaths, Jinora closed her eyes and leaned into the touch, wrapping her hands around her source of happiness, her girlfriend.

                “She lived for such a long time, and I knew it was coming, but I thought... she always seemed so immortal.”

                “Wherever she is, she’s reunited with your grandfather.”

                That was a reassuring thought, and it calmed Jinora down slightly, but it was still such a crushing blow to take. At least she’d stopped shaking, now taking deep breaths and holding onto Opal as tight as she could.

                “I’m right here,” Opal whispered. “I’m not going anywhere. I love you.”

                Jinora sniffled and laughed a little, “I love you too.”

                “I wish I’d known her better. What... what was she like? I mean, there’s only so much the history books can really tell you.”

                “She was... impossible.”

                “What?”

                “I mean, sometimes it almost didn’t seem as though she were real— one moment she was this old lady and then all of a sudden you looked into her eyes and saw an ocean storm,” Jinora smiled fondly. “And when she thought no one was looking, she was outside of her hut bending like no one’s business— she was never frail, never out of shape. If all else failed, she was the last line of defense for Korra. She was the one who took down Zaheer the first time around, when Korra was just a toddler.”

                “Really?”

                Jinora smirked, “Kicked his ass. Impaled him in the back of the head with a shard of ice— that’s where the big scar came from. The healers went to work on him right after they captured him; wanted to keep him alive to see if he would talk, but I guess he never ended up talking.”

                “She kicked a terrorist’s ass at sixty-eight?”

                “Well, your grandmother kicked Kuvira’s butt at eighty-six.”

                “I was there. If Toph had truly wanted the Great Uniter to die, it would’ve happened. She just wanted to give Kuvira a warning to back off.”

                 “Women are never any good at listening,” Jinora sniffled, burying her face into Opal’s shoulder.

                “No. Not at all.”

                Opal offered to meditate with Jinora, which in all honesty was what she needed most at that moment. They sat across from each other with their knees touching, and then Opal reached out and threaded their fingers together. They meditated for two whole hours in that spare room, and for once everything was perfect— the temperature of the room and the carpet that they were sitting on, the background noise of Sky Bison and children playing games out on the lawn, and of course the soft pressure of Opal’s fingers. She’d never loved meditation more than that point, and even though the horrible news from her father had nearly broken her, there was a girl here to help her heal.

                “I really do love you.”

                Jinora’s eyes were closed, but she smiled and squeezed Opal’s hand, “I love you too. You’re my favorite person in the world.”

 

 

 

 

**_Fall, 183 AG:_ **

 

                “You’re too young to know!” Tenzin insisted through the phone.

                “Dad, I’m sorry... but this is something I’m always going to know. This is something that my significant other knows... I just can’t...”

                Her father sputtered for a few seconds and then sighed, “I suppose I understand. What I had with Lin was wonderful until we discovered our disagreements about kids.”

                “What? Are you saying my significant other and I would break up over this? We’re stronger than that, Dad. I’m not changing my mind about this— I don’t want that in my life. You cannot force this upon me just because you have a history of bad romances.”

                “Jinora!”

                “Did your parents force Kya or Bumi to have kids?”

                “It’s... it wasn’t the same!”

                 “I’ll always be your little girl, but I’m not the same person as you. I’ll... I’ll call you next week. Goodbye Dad.”

                “Oh... goodbye Jinora.”

                She set down the phone, turning around to find Meelo standing in the doorway.

                “You don’t want kids?” the sixteen-year-old asked.

                Jinora sighed impatiently, “No Meelo.”

                “Well that’s okay! I want a huge family! An army of little Meelo’s!”

                Spirits forbid.

                “I wish you luck in that endeavor.”

                She left Meelo to pursue his own distractions, whatever they were these days, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Though she missed her parents, and she loved her siblings dearly, she’d been around them for literally her entire life. Goodness knows that you occasionally need a few years break form your family.

                The study was technically for anyone and mostly used by the Airbending Masters, but the majority of the Air Temple identified it as Jinora’s. This irked her a little bit, wasn’t the design of their community engineered so that all could equally share in all things? Except for the elderly acolyte who enjoyed finding a place away from the children to doze off, most of the members of her Temple silently agreed that the study was just a place meant for the leader, unless you needed to make a phone call.

                Opal was the exception. She was always the exception.

                “I’ll bet when you were growing up you thought you’d get a Temple all to yourself?” she smiled from the doorway, after Meelo had left.

                Jinora flopped down in the soft chair behind the desk, “Don’t even joke about that. You have no idea...”

                “Are you kidding? I have FOUR brothers. I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life as Matriarch of the city while the boys were Kings of Metaldisc in my backyard. Escaping like this was such a relief.”

                “Who do you think is going to run the show when your mother decides to retire?”

                “Hopefully not... well... none of them. Huan would be too busy sculpting to smell a fire in front of his nose, Baatar is... still on house arrest, and I can’t imagine Wing or Wei showing any interest in politics.”

                Opal closed the door and crossed the threshold to sit in Jinora’s lap, wrapping her arms around the younger girl’s neck.

                “But I’m not here to talk politics...”

                Jinora smiled into the kiss, and then frowned into it as she remembered the conversation she just had with her father. Opal pulled back shaking her head;

                “That wasn’t working, something’s on your mind?”

                Jinora stared at Opal’s face but didn’t focus her eyesight on one particular point, rather she was a little lost in her own world for a few seconds before asking where Opal saw them in ten years.

                “Oh, well, I think we would still be together if that’s what you’re asking. Hopefully there’s more Airbender’s at the Temple and we have a thriving culture going. Holding festivals once a month and dancing every night.”

                “What about twenty years?”

                “Maybe traveling around? I’m sure there will always be people we need to help— I actually missed that a lot. Sleeping under the stars at age forty-six. Maybe the two of us staying in Gaoling for a few years and having an Airbending school for anyone who didn’t necessarily want to live in the temple. Or maybe we could stay for a while in Zaofu. I mean, I love living in the Temple and all, but I don’t want this to be the place I die. There’s so much out there in the world... and to just limit yourself like that?”

                “But... what about a family?”

                Opal shrugged, “Yes and no. I mean, my mom had gray hair at forty-five because of the five of us, and running a city. Can you imagine me with gray hair? I might take to shaving it more often if that was the case! On the other hand, I suppose kids are fun to play with. Stinky, though. Why?”

                “I don’t want kids. I realized it over the past year and I... I just had an argument with my Dad about it. But I’m sure about this.”

                Jinora felt a hand cup her cheek and leaned into the touch, closing her eyes and letting a few tears fall. She’d been worried to tell Opal about this life decision, but her girlfriend merely smiled as she kissed Jinora’s forehead.

                “Don’t worry, I’m okay with whatever decisions you make. You’re the smartest girl I know.”

                They stayed like that for a few minutes until Jinora had an idea;

                “Hey Opal?”

                “Hmm?”

                “Remember that time a few years ago when you tried to give me a massage?”

                “How could I forget? You ran out of my room with your tail in between your legs. I was a little upset at first but then I couldn’t stop laughing at how a Master Airbender could be so... silly.”

                Jinora smiled at the memory, and then leaned her forehead against Opal’s, “Would you like to give your girl a massage right now? I think she might appreciate it...”

                Opal stood and picked up a giggling Jinora, “Oh, I think that can be arranged.”

                She set the younger girl down on the desk and began carefully taking off her robes, and needless to say, Jinora was given the massage of her life. And unfortunately, after the elderly acolyte that just wanted someplace quiet to read stumbled upon them in a compromising position, no one ever dared go into the study without knocking ever again.

 

 ** __**

 

**_Spring, 184 AG:_ **

 

                Kya and Bumi bickered over where the decorations would go, the both of them reaching an age where it was not advisable that they hang ornamental pieces at all. Stubborn as their mother, they continued to fight over yellow or red and which shape of lantern was more spiritual in which location. Opal was sitting off to the side sorting through the Temple’s reserves of incense deciding which one would be most appropriate for Meelo’s ceremony.

                Jinora knew that Ikki and Kai were perfectly comfortable with tattooing the sixteen-year-old, and since Meelo usually had his hair short or shaved, he wouldn’t look too horrible with a bald head. Jinora had neglected to say anything, but Ikki had a bit of a lumpy head, and Jinora couldn’t help but imagine a walnut whenever she saw her sister for a few months.

                “How’s it going?” she asked when she’d wandered over to Opal’s table.

                Opal snuck her arm around Jinora’s waist as she continued to bite her nails, “Pretty good, I think we’re going to have kusum burning for the main ceremony and juniper sticks for the celebrations.”

                “Kusum smoke is easier to Airbend,” Jinora agreed. They were going to have the novices on the stage, so that the veteran Benders who’d been around for the past ten years could sit back and watch the ceremony from the audience’s seats. Thus, it was better to not take risks.

                Opal smiled fondly at Jinora, “I’m so excited... I didn’t expect to be co-pilot of the Eastern Air Temple when I first arrived.”

                “You’re a little sure of yourself.”

                Opal walked away with a slight sway in her hips, causing Jinora’s breath to catch in her throat, “Maybe you shouldn’t let me take the lead so often in bed. It’s causing me to get a little arrogant, don’t you think?”

                 “Jerk,” Jinora whispered, biting her lip and memorizing that image.

               

 ** __**

 

**_Winter, 186 AG:_ **

 

                They’d fought over something again, and Jinora was sitting in her study watching the rain falling and crying. Crying because right now, of all times, she was remembering that day when a storm had forced them to seek shelter in the cave— dancing in the rain and then holding Opal as she sobbed about loving Kuvira. Four years ago, but still fresh in her mind.

                She shouldn’t have said it. She shouldn’t have said it.

 

                _“Hey there, I was wondering if I could ask you something?”_

_Jinora stopped practicing and turned to give her girlfriend a kiss, “Sure, what’s wrong?”_

_“Oh... well... I got a letter in the mail. My mom wants to retire, and she needs a Matriarch to take over. She wants me to do it.”_

_“You told her no, right?” Jinora asked, unfazed and smiling._

_“Well... I kind of want to do it.”_

_“What?”_

_“Remember when you asked where you saw us in a few years, I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t want to stay here forever... I kind of want to go home...” Opal sheepishly admitted._

_Jinora grabbed Opal’s hands, “But, sweetie, this is home!”_

_“It’s not the same.”_

_“So... are you just going to leave me?”_

_“Of course not! I don’t want to go anywhere without you! You could come with me and live in Zaofu!” Opal said in excitement._

_“But I **have** to be here. They need me here!”_

_“Jinora, the temple has Ikki and Meelo and Kai! It’s not going to crumble to dust without you!”_

_“This is the most spiritual of the temples, and I have the most connection with the Spirits!”_

_“It’s not like there aren’t Spirits in Zaofu,” Opal scoffed._

_“No, but I doubt you can seek enlightenment sitting behind a custom engraved desk and wearing a custom tiara. We just can’t have those luxuries, Opal!”_

_“You think establishing that city was a luxury for my mother? You know how hard it was for her!”_

_“I can’t believe you want to run away from what we’ve worked so hard to accomplish. That’s cowardice, Opal.”_

_Opal faltered, losing her breath and letting tears well in her eyes, “You think I’m a coward?”_

_“That wasn’t what I said,” Jinora snapped._

_But it was too late, Opal turned and ran out of the courtyard— actually running and crying. Novices and veteran Airbenders watched the Master flee and stared, then looked at Jinora for an explanation. She was too upset to deal with them, using her glider staff to fly up to the nearest window and crawl through._

               

                “You idiot,” Jinora mumbled to herself. “You had no right to say those things...”

                She’d stayed in the study for two days, only opening the door to accept food from Kai, who insisted that she eat. Instead of eating, she’d left the food on the windowsill for the lemurs to pick at. Sure, she felt a little lightheaded, and she certainly hadn’t received enough sleep, but she needed to think right now. She needed to think of an apology to say to Opal. The problem was two days had passed and she couldn’t think of the words that would even remotely express her regret.

                The phone rang, and Jinora merely stared at it for a few seconds, and then she walked over and unplugged the phone. If Ikki had somehow contacted her parents to try to force her out of the study, she wasn’t going to fall for it.

                She decided to meditate, for the study was making her feel a little claustrophobic.

                Jinora sat down on the carpet and closed her eyes, trying her best to ignore the emptiness in her stomach. She couldn’t eat right now, she had something she needed to do— escape. Her fists pressed together, she pursed her lips and tried again, managing to clear her head of all thoughts.

                And when she opened them, she was met with an equally stormy Spirit World, reflecting her emotions.

                “Great... I could really use a break, universe.”

                She trudged down the trail and found Iroh’s tea shop, pushing the doors open enough to squeeze through. The old man was serving a large owl that filled up the entire room, and for a moment Jinora had terrible flashbacks of when she was only eleven years old and being captured by Unalaq in that awful library.

                “Ah, Jinora, have you met Wan Zei Hong? This is the younger brother of the family.”

                Jinora tried to focus on the Spirit without having a panic attack and began to realize that this Owl was more brown, like a barn own. He gently pushed the tray of tea towards her with his huge wing.

                “Please join us, Master Jinora,” the owl said. “We’re expecting one more in a few minutes.”

                “Another Spirit?” Jinora asked, now that she’d calmed down.

                “No,” Uncle Iroh smiled, “One of your friends.”

                “Sorry I’m late!” someone shouted as they opened and closed the door to the tea shop, “The weather outside it horrible! I didn’t even know it could do that in the Spirit World— Oh! Hey there, Jinora!”

                Kuvira had a bright smile on her face, her evergreen eyes filled with joy. She gave the fifteen-foot-tall barn owl a hug before sitting down at the table.

                “You’re a lot more cheerful than I remember,” Jinora murmured bluntly.

                The former Great Uniter could only laugh, “You can only have so many cups of Iroh’s tea before the worries of the world are simply... washed away. I meditate here every day from my cell, and I couldn’t think of a better place.”

                “Your words do me great honor,” Iroh called from the kitchen.

                “You’re still imprisoned? But what about the work you did in the Earth Kingdom?”

                Kuvira sighed, taking a sip of tea, “It was a nice break from the fortress where I’m held, but that’s all it was ever going to be.”

                “They can’t just... Korra can’t just use you like a tool and then lock you up when she has no need of you,” Jinora objected.

                “She’s the Avatar,” Wan Zei Hong countered.

                “That’s not fair!”

                “I started a war... I deserve my punishment.”

                Jinora scoffed, “But Iroh laid siege to Ba Sing Se for six-hundred days, and he was never tried for that battle! Just because you were once a military leader does not mean you cannot become a better person.”

                “Oh... I had my own form of punishment,” Iroh sighed, sitting down at the table.

                Kuvira picked at the tea cup, “Where would I even go if they were to let me free? No one trusts me.”

                “I trust you.”

                “I belong to no nation after what I did,” Kuvira said sternly.

                Jinora thought about it for a few moments and then piped up, “But if you belonged to an independent state?”

                Kuvira looked confused, and a little desolate, but before Jinora could further comment on the matter, everything went black. Back on Earth, her body slumped over as it collapsed from two days without food, water, or rest. Oh shoot, she should have expected this to happen... she shouldn’t have left all of her food for the lemurs... and she should have taken a nap or two... and she shouldn’t have called a Beifong woman a coward. That was arguably the dumbest one of all.

                Jinora awoke to find something green dangling over her, to which she reached out and attempted to grab. Her fingers felt something soft and warm, and she couldn’t help but think that was most peculiar.

                “Could you let go of my face, sweetie?” Opal asked with a smile.

                Jinora blinked a few times until her vision came into focus, and she let go of her grip on Opal’s nose. Her hand slowly fell down; she felt as though every inch she put between her and Opal was permanent, that they might never touch again. She began to remember the fight that they’d had and her two days of stubborn solidarity.

                “Don’t do that again,” Opal said solemnly. “Please... don’t scare me like that again. What if the worst had happened... what if no one had found you? I could never forgive myself, Jinora.”

                “You weren’t the one who said such awful things,” Jinora replied, staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom.

                “But you were right, I can’t just run away from—”

                “I treated you like shit when you told me that was what you wanted. That was where you saw yourself in a few years and I was just so scared... I don’t have an excuse. I only have an explanation.”

                That shut Opal up. For all the years that she’d known Jinora, the latter did not swear. And judging by the recognition in her eyes, she knew where those same words had come from— having half-heartedly muttered them to Kuvira a few years prior in apology. Opal carefully bent down to where a bucket was waiting on the floor and soaked a clean strip of cloth in some water, wringing it out before spreading it on Jinora’s forehead to cool her down. The sudden lack of heat cleared up the headache that Jinora hadn’t even realized that she had.

                “I know you went about it the wrong way, but you weren’t entirely wrong. I’m no leader like you are— I know more about incense than I’ll ever know about managing a city.”

                Jinora scooted over as best as her weakened state would allow her, patting the space next to her. Opal smiled, took the washcloth off Jinora’s forehead, and climbed in— throwing the bedspread over them so that just their heads were poking out.

                “I’m sorry. Can... can I ask for your forgiveness?”

                “Of course,” Opal whispered.

                Their foreheads pressed together and Jinora let a few tears escape, surprising her, as she had thought herself all cried out from the past few days. Opal kissed her nose and closed her eyes, throwing an arm over Jinora’s side.

                “We’ll figure it out in a few days, okay? With some tea and level heads.”

                “Okay,” Jinora whispered. “I love you.”

                “I love you too.”

               

**_ _ **

 

**_Winter, 186 AG:_ **

 

                “Where are we? I’ve never heard of this place before.”

                “Fort Bosco. It’s... it’s a special fortress where a prisoner is being held. I understand if you would rather take the Matriarchy yourself, but I would encourage that you give her a chance,” Jinora vaguely explained.

                “What? Who’re you talking abou— oh no.”

                “Sorry,” Jinora said in a small, shy voice.

                Opal closed her eyes for a few seconds and took a deep breath, “Does my Mom know we’re here?”

                “Su’s actually sitting in the cell with her right now, going over what she will and won’t have control over.”

                “I really wish you would be more honest with me instead of flying me across the Si Wong like this, promising me that we’re going to the Misty Palms Oasis.”

                “You know that there’s nothing there. You had to know I was up to something.”

                “Yeah well... I thought maybe you had a cool surprise for me,” Opal said with a roll of her eyes. “Seeing my ex-crush turned dictator was not what I had in mind.”

                “We’re going to Gaoling after this,” Jinora promised. “And we’re going to spend a whole year there, just lazily sitting around and waiting for the next Harmonic Convergence. Right now, I just need you to trust me.”

                Opal turned to face her and cupped Jinora’s face in both her tattooed hands, “I do.”

                They kissed and walked into the fort. When they reached the cell, after half a dozen platinum fortifications, an aging Suyin greeted her daughter with a kiss on the forehead and gave Jinora a hug. The latter walked into the cell and hugged Kuvira, and action that surprised the former dictator slightly, and then sat down at one of the chairs that the guards had brought in.

                “Hello there,” Opal murmured nervously. She sat down next to Jinora and Suyin sat on the bed next to Kuvira, though far enough to keep a respectful distance.

                “I suppose we all know why we’re here... to discuss the future of the Zaofu Matriarchy,” Suyin sighed. “And as much as I want to pass that title onto my only daughter, I am also aware of the over-qualifications and experience Kuvira possesses. I think that a trial year could be set up to see if you are a respectable candidate for the job—”

                “SORRY I’M LATE!” someone shouted down the hallway in an out of breath voice. “THE AIRSHIP BROKE DOWN AND MY WIFE WASN’T HERE TO FIX IT, SO I FLEW ACROSS THE DESERT!!”

                “The next incarnations of the Avatar are going to arrive sooner than is expected of them,” Suyin muttered in a frustrated voice. “Like reputable human beings.”

                “Technically, she’s not entirely human,” Jinora offered thoughtfully. “Part Spirit, after all.”

                Korra rushed into the cell with a guard following, insisting that bending the metal detectors apart did not qualify as properly going through them. Of all the people, Opal shushed him by putting her hand up, and he left the room with a bewildered look in his eyes.

                Opal sighed, “Korra, why are you even...”

                “Somebody’s gotta sign the pardon, right? I mean, I’m pretty much a world leader, so _I_ think I count.”

                “Can we just get on with this?” Suyin groaned, “I’m signing over my city to the woman who tried to conquer it once—”

                Kuvira winced.

                “— and I’d like to just get it over with.”

                “Come on, you know she’s going to be okay,” Jinora reasoned, “She has the Iroh stamp of approval.”

                “Fire-Lord-General Iroh or Almost-Fire-Lord-Uncle-General Iroh?” Korra asked with interest.

                “The second one,” Kuvira contributed shyly, as though she was not welcome to any say in the conversation. “I have tea with him a lot and he said that as long as I keep putting one foot in front of the other, I can return to the person I was before I... I lost my way. He said to me what Jinora said, that ‘the only use dwelling on the past can serve is to ensure it does not happen again.’ I... I know it’s what every prisoner says, but I think I could really be of use to you outside of a cell.”

                Korra smiled, “Ooh, she’s got the _tangible_ stamp of approval. I think she’s going to make a good leader. I mean an ex-leader turned into a good leader.”

                “We’re getting there!” Opal shushed her.

                _This is a mess_ , Jinora thought. _I suppose all World Leader meetings are like this. And we’re not even the **real** World Leaders._

                “What does King Wu think of this?” Kuvira asked. “Does he approve?”

                “I don’t think anyone’s asked his opinion on anything for the past five years,” Suyin chuckled. “He won’t even notice.”

                “And even if he did notice, it will be because he was flirting with Kuvira at some charity ball,” Korra smirked.

                “Not looking forwards to that.” 

                “Alright, look,” Jinora interrupted, “We’ll have a long time to figure out the details of this new Matriarchy, and Kuvira’s going to be kept under a close watch. I don’t think you’ll try anything, will you?”

                “Of course not,” Kuvira said in a very serious and truthful manner.

                “Is everyone in favor of this?”

                All women looked at each other before glancing at Opal for objection— as though she might have a last-minute realization that she truly wanted to be Matriarch for the rest of her life, but then she let out a laugh and shook her head;

                “This is nuts. Let’s do it.”

                They signed the necessary papers to release Kuvira, and left the cell. The prisoner stayed behind to let herself soak in the reality of truly getting to leave this place, and Jinora was quick to realize that Opal had stayed behind to. There was a sheet of glass pretending to be a mirror that Kuvira could use to make sure that she didn’t look absolutely terrible for visitors, and on the other side anyone could look into the cell without Kuvira realizing. Jinora’s curiosity got the better of her, and she watched in inaudible conversation between Opal and Kuvira take place. She watched as Kuvira listened to Opal speak with a neutral expression on her face, watched Kuvira’s eyes grow wide in shock and her mouth cover her hand, and she watched tears drip down both of their faces as they made amends. Opal pulled Kuvira into what looked like a bone-crushing hug, and Jinora couldn’t help but feel that all those meditation sessions had finally paid off. She’d finally done her duty in getting Opal to let go of her anger and hatred.

                “To forgive, perhaps to befriend again,” Korra whispered behind her.

                Jinora nodded as she watched Opal and Kuvira slowly walk out of the cell together, “Let us hope that’s what happens.”

                “If you had a hand in it, love most certainly will occur,” the Avatar wisely stated.

               

**_ _ **

 

**_Spring, 187 AG:_ **

 

                Sitting together in the backyard of the Beifong Manor, Jinora couldn’t help but fall in love over and over again with the smile on Opal’s face. A gentle breeze sailed through the sky, carrying with it all the little seeds that would soon grow into weeds and flowers and in some cases trees that might tower over the Beifong Manor in years to come. Opal was looking anywhere but at her girlfriend as Jinora weaved together a flower crown made of daisies. She perched the floral tiara carefully onto Opal’s forehead and pressed a kiss to her nose, then one to her lips, and then one to her forehead.

                “Will you marry me?” Jinora asked, sitting cross-legged and wearing a jacket for the first time in her life and not caring how her posture looked or whether her hair looked Airbending Masterly enough and not caring and not caring and not caring.

                Except for one thing. She cared about Opal. She would always care.

                “Just like that? I’ll have to think about it, you’ll have to come back on business days, of course, and there’s a flat thirty yuan fee for each application...”

                “Just say yes.”

                Opal teased her even further with a wide, toothy smile, “What if I don’t want to?”

                “I can’t stop you from saying no,” Jinora shrugged. “I know that we’re pretty young and we’re still figuring out who we want to be and we’re not sure what we want to do with the rest of our lives, but whenever I picture myself, no matter the situation, I see you tugging me forwards with that stupid goofy smile of yours... _Spirits_ , Opal Beifong, _you_ are my future. I know it as sure as I know Airbending.”

                The Beifong woman ran her fingers through the younger girl’s hair, sobering up and letting the wind speak for them. She pressed a long kiss to Jinora’s lips, as strong as the day that they’d first kissed and yet so unique in its passion. Jinora couldn’t formulate a single thought, save for how much she loved Opal Beifong. They broke apart in giggles, as per usual, and Opal stroked Jinora’s cheek with the pad of her thumb.

                “My little lemur, I think that a wedding could be arranged.”

 

**_ _ **

 

 


End file.
